Calling all Cragbabies

What’s a cragbaby, you might ask? Is it a child with professional climbers as parents that is born with a silver carabiner in his mouth, destined to become the next thrill-seeking, adrenaline junkie prodigy? Not necessarily. I like to use the moniker of “cragbaby” to refer to any little guy or gal who doesn’t remember his first time in the woods – whether it be climbing, camping, hiking, etc. He doesn’t remember it because to him being outdoors enjoying nature is something his family has always done – it’s part of who he is. Cragbabies are explorers, naturalists, and ecologists. They grow up feeling most at home in wide open spaces, having been introduced to the sounds and rhythms of nature in the womb.

When my husband and I found out that we were pregnant in July of 2009, we knew that our lives were going to change in a big way. Fortunately for us (as well as our little Cragbaby), however, my expanding belly and our expanding family didn’t put a stop to our adventures! You wouldn’t think that rock climbing and infants would go together in the same sentence, but we’ve found that the unlikely combination has made for an amazing vault of memories and experiences that we wouldn’t trade for the world!

The following film was shot by Jan Balster, who was inspired by the “Creating a Cragbaby” series on my blog (http://cragmama.com) to create a “day-in-the-life” piece about our crag-family. I’m hoping that it will inspire and motivate moms and moms-to-be to realize that having kids is not the end of adventures – its only the beginning!